The Basketball Court Swordsman

Indiana Pacers, Bankers Life Arena, Corn Yellow Jersey, Henson Joe...

These things are a lingering nightmare for Kelly Irving. He was defeated by the Pacers before in the Cleveland Cavaliers. At that time, LeBron James was a reliable and good teammate beside him.

This year is the first time Kelly Irving has faced the Pacers alone in the playoffs. Although the Celtics and Pacers met in the Eastern Conference finals last season, Irving did not play a game due to injury.

Therefore, this is the first time he has faced the threat of the defending champion in a real sense.

Can he lead the Celtics to victory? Irving didn't know. The only thing he knows is that the second round of the series will definitely make him lose a piece of flesh. Irving has had enough without James' game...

"Kelly, you should pay more attention to conducting the ball today and don't fall into the opponent's defensive trap. The Pacers must have made a lot of special defensive arrangements for you. Your task is to make their arrangements in vain!

It wasn't until he heard Stevens yelling that Irving recovered. He was not here to miss LeBron, but to defeat the Pacers.

"I understand, I will pay more attention."

Stevens could see that Irving was a little absent-minded, but he couldn't tell it in front of so many people. So he nodded his head and prayed that his star player can perform well in the game later.

In the past, whether it was the Butler Bulldogs, the Pacers or the Celtics in Thomas's period, the team coached by Stevens was united. This is also the reason why the Celtics led by Thomas Jr. were able to make a name for themselves in the east.

But this year, Stevens's Celtics are not particularly united. Although the locker room of this team is far from the point where conflicts broke out, it has also greatly affected the combat effectiveness.

Regarding how to adjust the atmosphere of this complex dressing room, Stevens's ability in this area really needs to be improved.

Both Stevens and Henson knew that the Celtics were bad luck, but the media didn't think so. In their view, the team that can sweep the Milwaukee Bucks is certainly not the one to wait.

So before the game started, most media believed that the Celtics were at least evenly matched with the Pacers. This was strange when Henson was interviewed on the sidelines before the game.

"Coach Henson, how do you defend against the Celtics offense today? As we all know, the Celtics have a lot of offensive firepower. Will you double-team Kelly Irving?"

"Why don't you ask how the Celtics can resist our offense? And in my opinion, the fact that the Celtics have a lot of firepower is not well known, at least I don't know."

"Uh... you should know that the Celtics just swept the Milwaukee Bucks..."

"Neither the Milwaukee Bucks nor the Celtics have 50 wins, but my team won 74. So what does the Celtics sweep the Bucks show?"

Henson still does this. He doesn't like flattery, especially in the face of the media.

Henson said he would defeat the Celtics 4-0, and he would definitely take action. Even so, it would make his old friend Stevens very embarrassed.

"The game is about to begin, and Coach Henson is as confident as ever. In his opinion, the Celtics sweeping the Bucks to advance is not a great move. We hope that Coach Henson is more than just a vicious mouth, I hope he can show A strength that matches its pride. The Celtics' starting lineup has appeared, and Coach Stevens has not changed."

Henson looked up at the stadium, Horford, Jaylen Brown, Tatum, Marcus Morris and Owen, Stevens sent his strongest lineup.

Judging from the paper lineup, the Celtics' starting lineup is indeed very strong.

"Blindness appraiser" Al Horford naturally needless to say, this guy even restricted Antetokounmpo during the regular season.

Marcus Morris has always been a superb role player. As a support player, he can contribute nearly 14 points per game and can output three points steadily, which is really remarkable.

Tatum and Jaylen Brown averaged 18 points per game in the playoffs last season, and Kelly Irving’s reputation needs no explanation.

Henson admitted that if the Celtics' lineup is fully utilized, even the Pacers will be difficult to resist. Not to mention that in the seven-man rotation of Stevens in the playoffs, there are two powerful players, Hayward and Rochelle.

But the basketball game is not on paper. The Celtics have undergone too many changes this year, so that they are not as scary as they seem.

This season's Jaylen Brown had a very serious loss of himself, and he didn't have a little recovery until the end of the season. Brown went astray in the summer vacation and focused on singles skills. As a result, he did not get singles time after the start of the season. Instead, he lost the outside shot ability he had worked hard before.

This year, his three-point shooting percentage dropped to 34.4%, which caused the overall performance to fall back. However, his ability to read a ball game was below the level, he spent more time on the court like a headless fly.

The same problem actually appeared in Jason Tatum, it seems that training with Kobe Bryant is not the best choice for Tatum.

For two consecutive years in the playoffs, Tatum's three-point shooting rate has fallen between 32.3 and 32.4%. This season, even two-pointers have been relatively sluggish when shooting completely loses discipline. Many players want to emulate Kobe, but in fact there is only one Kobe in the world.

The current appearance of these two guys is naturally not comparable to last season. So in fact, these two young people are not as powerful as they thought.

Of course, when young players in a team have the same problem by appointment, the problem probably should not be counted solely on the young players.

Kelly Irving and Hayward's season-like performance in the car accident is the biggest reason why the Celtics are not favored by Henson.

Irving's field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage in the playoffs this year are both career lows, and Irving seems to lack some leadership qualities on the court.

Hayward is even more pity, maybe he will get better in the future, but at least this season this guy can not recover from the shadow of injury. In the series with the Bucks, Hayward scored 20 points in the fourth game and was widely reported by the media.

But scoring 20 points per game shouldn't be Hayward's normality? The truth is cruel, Hayward averaged only 9.4 points per game in the playoffs this season...

Young point guard Rochelle was the Celtics' surprise last season. His 16.5 points and 5.7 assists per game in the playoffs made him a candidate for the next league's first point guard.

But this season, due to the unhappy relationship with the Celtics over the issue of contract extension, his investment in the game is far less than last season. This guy averaged 6.4 points and 1.9 assists in the playoffs this year, which can be said to be a complete reverse growth.

Horford and Morris are the only two players in the Celtics whose performance is fairly stable. These two guys are lubricant players, they can make the team better. But Henson still said that if the engine itself is not good enough, no matter how good the lubricant is, it is no good.

The data comparison of these guys all showed clearly before Henson's eyes. Henson also watched a lot of Celtics game videos. Although not to mention that 82 games are not lost, there are definitely 40 games.

He knows very well that the Celtics are already strong outsiders.

"After playing, I only have one request, be steady! Don't worry, the defensive end strives to drag the Celtics into position, and the offensive end must be patient. Sooner or later, their defense will show flaws. Last year, we were 4-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Swept the Celtics. This year, I need the same ending."

After Henson finished speaking, he sat back directly on the bench. Solving the battle as soon as possible is the best way to relieve Stevens...